Star Trek: Adventures of the Phoenix
by V Viper
Summary: Continuing stories of the crew of the USS Phoenix...R&R!
1. Chain of Command

Lieutenant Austin Peters headed toward the junior officer's lounge. At just under six feet, he had dark brown hair and brown eyes, one could swear that he could see into your very soul with them, and he had been know to make quite a few colleagues uncomfortable with them. 'Damn, I'm late', he thought to himself  
  
"Late, as usual," commented Ensign Vivian Talsy as he entered into the lounge. Fresh out of the academy, like everyone else in the room, she had graduated at the top of her class, and was quickly making her way up the ranks. At a little over 5 feet 3 inches, she had a petite frame and flowing black hair; but her appearances were deceiving and she was an excellent hand-to-hand fighter.  
  
"Ha ha, we found a pretty interesting nebula in the Jerome Sector, Captain wanted us to check it out," Austin replied with a smile on his face.  
  
"Of course, we should be honored that an all mighty senior officer would even consider playing poker with us," retorted Austin's good friend, Benjamin Waters. Ben stood tall at 6 feet 2 inches. His had short, brown hair, and was quick at solving problems, but had an even quicker wit.  
  
"Keep practicing Ben, I almost didn't hear the sarcasm."  
  
"Shut up"  
  
"Hey, I'll get you for insubordination and have u thrown in the brig," he retorted  
  
"Jeez, you two, why don't we start another game up," said Elizabeth Flowers, "I could defiantly use another hand, this one sucks." Liz Flowers was the medic of the group. After being forced to take combat training, she quickly realized that she was not inclined in killing, and had taken medicine. With black hair that reached her waist, she had large brown eyes. Perhaps one of the more mature ones of the group, Liz had graduated second in her class, and was extremely adept as a surgeon.  
  
"Right then, Vivian, why don't you deal this time," said Ben.  
  
Austin looked at his cards and tried to suppress a grimace, 'ugh, never can seem to get a good hand' He still wasn't too good at poker; then again, this was his 5th time playing the game, so he figured he wasn't to bad.  
  
"You know Austin, you're what 16?" asked Chris Sullivan. As a junior engineer, Chris and Ben were constantly competing with one another, in almost every aspect, from work to girls. They had been tied in their class ranks, and had been high school friends.  
  
"I'm 17 in a month, why do you ask?" replied Austin  
  
"Cause I can't figure out some things. Let's see now, you're about 4 years younger than all of us, you should be in High School, let alone a senior officer on a modified Galaxy-Class ship! Not trying to sound arrogant or anything, but all of us graduated the Academy at the top of their respective fields, Ben and I at engineering, Vivian at Ops, Andy at the helm, John in security, and Liz in medicine," he said pointing at everyone in the room, "and here you are, a kid, who should be in high school, and you outrank all of us; AND you're the Senior Ops officer, for crying out loud, you've got people 5 or 6 year's older than you reporting to you! Its been, what, a month since we set off? You still haven't told us how the hell you've pulled that off!"  
  
"Yeah, you never did tell us you did that," said Andrew McKinley. Andy was a pilot, and a damn good one. He had set records throughout the Academy, but unlike most hotshot pilots, he didn't boast about it. At 5 feet 9 inches, he had a sprinter's frame (coming from the fact that he was arguably the best sprinter the Academy had ever seen) blondish-brown hair, and piercing blue eyes.  
  
Austin looked at Chris and Andy, not keen at telling anyone what had happened to him, and how he had pulled this off. He didn't want tell anyone what had happened, the only two people who knew were was Captain Bates and Counselor Hambrick, and he didn't feel any need to tell anyone else. Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, he looked at everyone, seeing how eager they were for him to tell his story, and he knew that curiosity would quickly change to horror.  
  
"BOOM!!" The entire ship tilted to the right, causing the table to fall over.  
  
"SENIOR OFFICERS REPORT TO THE BRIDGE!"  
  
Austin shot up, "That's my cue, I'll talk to you guys later," and with that, he fled the lounge and practically sprinted to the turbolift in his haste to get to the bridge. "Bridge," he ordered.  
  
"CRASH" This one was even worse than the first, 'C'mon, c'mon,' urged Austin to the turbolift. Finally the doors opened; the bridge was a mess, consoled were blackened and medical teams were taking care of injuries. Austin relieved the Ensign at ops.  
  
"REPORT" yelled Captain Bates.  
  
Austin looked at his console, "What the hell? Sir, we seem to be caught in some sort of gravimetric eddy, at least that what it looks like, I've never seen one of this type of configuration, in fact, it shouldn't be possible for one to be so close to this type of nebula..."  
  
"Whatever it is, hull stress in increasing exponentially, we've gotta get out of here," reported the first officer.  
  
Austin looked at his console, "Sir, impulse engines won't be able to get us out of this, and for some reason, this eddy is becoming larger.  
  
The Captain looked over the data, "we'll have to go to warp. Helm, get us out of here, warp one!"  
  
Austin looked at his data, "Oh my god! NO, don't engage the warp engines!  
  
The helmsman looked at him in horror, "Too late."  
  
BOOM! and everything went dark......  
  
'Oh my aching head, what happened, where are we?' With that, Austin opened his eyes, and looked up to see...nothing. It was dark, except for flickering emergency lights giving sporadic lighting throughout the bridge. "Is everyone ok?" There was no answer. He got up and tried to convince his console to work. "Peters to sickbay, we have a medical emergency on the bridge," No response, "Peters to engineering," There was still no response. 'Internal communications must be down'  
  
"Lieutenant, over here."  
  
"Captain, are you ok?"  
  
"I can't breathe, my entire chest.......it.....I must have broken a rib.....or something" he gasped. "What's our status?"  
  
"Looks like power's out, I can't get a reading on any of the systems"  
  
"What about the crew?"  
  
With his eyes finally adjusting to the dark, he could see that there were others, on the ground, "Looks like everyone's unconscious sir," he replied, praying that they weren't all dead.  
  
With that final thought, emergency power came online. Austin looked around the bridge, and to his horror, he could see that it was completely devastated. Consoles had exploded, bulkheads were everywhere.  
  
"Engineering the Bridge."  
  
"Peters here, Chris, is that you?"  
  
"Austin, am I glad to hear you're voice! Commander Melo is severely injured; right now I'm in command of engineering. Where's the captain?"  
  
"The Captain is hurt, and it looks like the rest of the senior staff is also, what's our status?"  
  
"We're setting up medical facilities throughout the ship, warp core is offline, along with everything else, we're lucky to have life support, but that's about all we've got."  
  
"I hear you Chris, see what you can do, Peters out"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------  
  
Senior Ops Officer's Log-stardate- unknown  
  
It's been three days since the disaster. Chris has been working round the clock and we now have main power, however, engines, shields, weapons, and most importantly, sensors are offline, and we are unable to determine our position. Our subspace antenna was damaged, and therefore we are unable to send a distress call. The Captain along with the rest of the staff is in critical condition. With our chief medical officer also hurt, it's fallen upon Ensign Elizabeth Flowers and our EMH to treat the wounded, which unfortunately is quite high. We've already recoded over 50 casualties with over 200 other wounded to some extent, and nearly 80 of those are critical.  
  
Austin rubbed his eyes, ever since the "incident" he had been involved in three years ago, he didn't require much sleep, and thus, he had been working almost around the clock but it was still tiring.  
  
"Lieutenant, take a look at this. We just got sensors working, and we're over 100, 000 light years from the Alpha quadrant."  
  
"Holy...."  
  
"Sir, that's not the worst part, from what I can make out with the chronometric particles, we're also a few millennia in the past, if not more, I can't make out for sure; also, I'm reading something strange about those particles, but I can't determine exactly what it means... sensor's still aren't fully repaired so that's all I can tell you."  
  
Austin tried to not show the fear, not only were they away from home, they weren't even in there time period, "Ensign, keep working on this, I need the exact place and time, and I need it now!  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
"Flowers to Peters, please report to sickbay immediately"  
  
"On my way"  
  
Austin headed to the turbolift, he was extremely worried. They were far from home, and he was the only active senior officer. With almost the entire bridge crew dead, it was only the Captain and him who were still alive from the original senior staff, and the Captain was in critical condition. Arriving at sickbay, he could immediately tell something was wrong. It was deathly quiet, and it was obvious that the medical staff was exhausted.  
  
"What is it Liz?"  
  
"It's the Captain, Austin, his injuries are too extensive; there's nothing I can do."  
  
"Does he know?"  
  
"Yes, I just told him, he said he needs to speak with you immediately."  
  
Austin walked up to the Captain, full of concern, but putting about an air of joviality  
  
"How ya doin, Captain?" he said with a smile.  
  
"No need for the fake cheer, Austin, you know as well as I do. I'm dying. I need you to do one last thing, get us to a starbase, we can't be that far away."  
  
"Actually sir, uhm, I don't know how to put this....." stammered Austin, shifting in place uncomfortably.  
  
"What is it Austin?"  
  
"Well, we've just gotten partial sensors, and from what we can determine we're no where near federation space sir."  
  
"How far?"  
  
"Sir, we're thousands of light years away sir, and possibly thousands of years in the past.... I'm sorry sir."  
  
"My god....!" he replied, becoming pale in the process, "You have nothing to be sorry for Lieutenant. It was my call to engage the warp engines, you tried to warn us all." Captain Bates tried to comfort the young Lieutenant, but knew an enormous burden was about to be placed upon him, "I've been told by the Ensign Flowers that the entire senior staff is dead."  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
A look of pain came across Captain Bates's face, "Promise me you'll get us home, Austin"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"You're a good officer Peters, I have no doubt you would have made Captain before you were thirty. With the senior officers all gone, and with me probably not surviving for to long, you have to take command. I know you may not be ready, but these are extreme circumstances, and its times like these that people like you step up. Therefore, on this stardate, with Ensign Flowers as a witness, I hereby give you the rank of Captain, with all the rights and privileges thereby. Computer, transfer all command codes to Captain Peters, authorization Bates Omega Charlie 13."  
  
"Authorization accepted, all command codes have been transferred."  
  
"There you have it Austin; you'll have to make yourself a senior staff. She's a good ship, treat her well."  
  
"I will sir," he stammered. How could he possibly get this crew home? He was younger than all the officer and crewman on the ship, and he was now Captain. His shoulders tensed, as he realized the burden that was being placed on him. 'All my life I wanted a command, and now that I get one, I'd rather I was still a student at the Academy.' Attempting to conceal his apprehension he responded by saying, "I'll get them home sir, you have my word."  
  
"I have no doubt that you will, Austin"  
  
And with that, Captain Bates passed into unconsciousness; never to regain it again...... 


	2. Chain of Command II

Author's note-For the rest of this series, however it lasts, I've made a new stardate system, basically timing how long it's been since the crew arrived. The first number is the years, second: months, third: weeks, fourth: days, and the numbers after the decimal will be military time. Therefore, the first date would mean its been 0 years, 0 months, 1 week and 0 days since they arrived and its 10am.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------  
  
Captain's Personal Log- Stardate-0010.10  
  
It is with a heavy heart that I must write that Captain Bates memorial was this morning. The crew has been informed about my unexpected promotion. However, they still seem rather uncomfortable with the decision, seeing that I am only 17. Though, part of me is elated to take command of such an incredible ship, I must confess that I am at a loss as to how to get this ship home; and the crew would definitely benefit from an experienced commander. However, I gave my word to Captain Bates that get this crew home, and that is what I shall do. Primary systems have started to come online. Though it has already been a week since we have be stranded here, repairs seem to be coming smoothly, if not at a rapid pace. I have full confidence in Chris, but even an experienced engineer would have trouble repairing the damage we've sustained. Everything from lights to EPS conduits have been damaged. In addition, I have yet to announce who shall be the senior staff...  
  
Ensign Benjamin Waters hurried down the hallway. He had been ordered to report to the briefing room at 1800 hours today. 'Lieutenant, no, it was Captain now, Peters had told him to come, but for what purpose he could not figure. We've been here a week, and we still don't have a senior staff. Plus, our "Captain" is a high school adolescent with no command experience whatsoever. Then again, I'm not much older, but what the hell would have given Captain Bates the idea to promote this kid? He's a nice person, and a good friend, but he's definitely NOT command material.' So lost in thought about worrying about the ship, crew, and how they were going to get home, he walked right into his good friend, Andrew McKinley.  
  
"Oops, sorry there Andy," as he helped him up, "Where you headed to?"  
  
"Briefing room. I was ordered to be there by 1800 hours today."  
  
"Oh, so you too, eh?"  
  
"Yeah, any idea what this is about?"  
  
"Beats me. We'd better move though, we're going to be late."  
  
Andy and Ben entered the room. Ensigns Vivian Talsy, John Cal, and Elizabeth Flowers were already sitting at the table.  
  
"Looks like we made it on time," observed Ben.  
  
"Is this everyone?" asked John, looking around.  
  
"How would I know," retorted Ben, "I didn't call it."  
  
Just then, Chris Sullivan sprinted through the door, "Am I late??" he said looking around, "Phew, I thought I'd be late; anyways, who called this meeting?"  
  
"I did," replied Austin as he walked in, "Take a seat Chris," motioning him to one of the empty chairs. He let the silence set in, observing each of their faces and making sure to note their reactions to what he was about to say. "All of you are probably wondering why I called this; as you are aware, two days ago, at 1500 hours, Captain Bates gave me command of the Phoenix. Since we no longer have a senior staff, I am making one. As such, each of you will be taking your respective positions as senior officers. Ensign Andrew McKinley, you will be taking over the duties of Senior Helm officer. Ensign Vivian Talsy, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and will be the Senior Ops officer, in addition to being the second officer. Ensign John Cal, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant junior grade, and you will be Chief Security Officer. Ensigns Elizabeth Flowers and Chris Sullivan, both of you are now Lieutenant Commanders, each of you will be the head of your respective sections, Liz, you're Chief Medical officer and Chris, you're now the head of engineering; and finally, Ensign Benjamin Waters, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Commander, and you will be the XO of the ship."  
  
All of them looked at him in complete awe, very few people ever became senior officers when they just came out of the academy, let alone be promoted to the ranks they were.  
  
"All right then, assuming that no one objects...."Austin looked around; no one said a thing. He looked at each of them, noticing that all of them were taking the information in their own ways; Andy seemed reasonably pleased, John looked completely bewildered, Vivian looked pale and apprehensive, almost fearful; Chris and Ben were looking straight at one another, both flustered. Austin couldn't tell what each of them were thinking, it almost seemed that Chris had wanted the XO spot and Ben had wanted to be Chief Engineer, but he figured he was imagining it. The only one who seemed to take it in stride was Liz Flowers, who had obviously realized that she was next in line of CMO. "I'll take your silence meaning no one objects?" Everyone nodded in agreement. "Well, congratulations to all of you, but now, on to other business. What's our status, Chris?"  
  
"Uhm, ya," Chris responded, still flustered from what he had just heard. Here he was, 23 years old, and fresh out of the academy, and he was CEO, that was amazing, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed. While he had been heading the repair effort, the second he heard that they were going to be senior officers, he had immediately hoped he would be XO. But alas, it was not to be, but he wouldn't complain, CEO was fine with him, "Well, warp power is back online, as well as thrusters, I'm still having trouble with impulse and warp engines. Life support is running, all our hull breaches have been patched up; we've replaced most of the damaged EPS conduits, except the problem is we're still running out of supplies!  
  
"You'll have to make do," Austin replied, "Replicate what you can, but I have a feeling we won't be taking on supplies for a while." Austin looked over at his ops officer, "Have we been able to determine where we are yet?"  
  
Vivian shifted uncomfortably in her chair, "Uhm, I'm not so sure our initial prediction was correct. As we get more and more information, it looks like we're almost 100,000 years in the past, and at least 100,000 light years from the Alpha Quadrant. Also, there are these..... patterns......which suffice to say, are quite confusing. To tell you the truth, I think we may be in another dimension."  
  
"So you're saying that we're in the past, in another quadrant, and possibly in another dimension, just great," retorted Ben, "What else do we need to go wrong?"  
  
"Chris, I need you to get these systems repaired, especially shields," said Austin, ignoring Ben's sarcastic response, "Somehow, I'm getting the feeling we probably going to need them. I was looking over the schematics, and officially, we're to carry only 150 photon torpedoes and another 100 quantum. However, it says in Captain Bates's log that we also carry a few transphasic torpedoes.  
  
"Weren't those banned? I though the Federation council banned them saying those weapons were from the future, stating that Starfleet vessels are not allowed to use them," said John  
  
"Starfleet Command has allowed a few transphasic torpedoes to be on certain ships in the event of a Borg attack," stated Austin. "We're also fortunate enough to have facilities to modify photon torpedoes into transphasic torpedoes, but it's a rather lengthy and complicated process. John, I need you to convert about five of the photon torpedoes into transphasic torpedoes; you never know if we'll need them."  
  
"That's quite a supply of torpedoes there," said Liz, "You planning on starting a war?"  
  
"Like I said, it's a gut feeling, and it usually best to go with your gut," he replied, then looking towards Chris, "how soon can we have all systems ready?"  
  
"Well, if we work around the clock, probably a few more days."  
  
"Excellent, you have 48 hours. I know I'm pushing you, but we can't remain a sitting duck much longer; there are bound to be pirate vessels around and I'm sure we make a tempting target."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------  
  
Captain's Log-0012.18  
  
Lt. Commander Sullivan has finally repaired primary systems, though some backups are still offline. However, we have decided to begin exploring the nearby vicinity in order to determine where we are and how to get home...  
  
"Captain, we're receiving an automated distress call less than a light year away," stated Vivian.  
  
"Put it on speaker, and how the hell didn't we detect them?" replied Austin.  
  
"Komfol.....giosd..ggei......"  
  
"I'm running through the universal translator, it's having difficulty, uhm...there, got it."  
  
"This is the freighter..........Mag.......we........unde.....tack...require im......ence........heavy casul.......repe........"  
  
"Ensign, set a course to those coordinates, Chris, we're going to need warp power."  
  
"Aye, Captain, but the best I can give you is warp 8, I'm still recalibrating the intermix ratio."  
  
"I'll take it! Andy, anytime you're ready." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------  
  
"Captain, we're arriving at the coordinates, I'm reading debris scattered throughout the area. The debris seems to be...ionized, possibly weapons fire. However, I'm reading no sign of the freighter or any warp trails signifying the arrival or departure of any ships."  
  
"Masked.......?" asked John.  
  
"If it is, sensors aren't detecting them"  
  
"Austin, should I raise shields?" John asked, "If that's the remains of a ship, the enemy vessel is bound to be close."  
  
"Sir, I'm reading........something........to the port bow. I can't tell what it is; possible a cloaked ship, though there's no way to be for sure."  
  
"Vivian, I need a little more information than that; have you tried scanning for anti-protons?"  
  
"It doesn't show up when scanning for anti-protons or using tachyon emissions, sir. But under, certain bandwidths, appears......I guess you could almost call it a phantom"  
  
"John, go to yellow alert, better safe than s......"  
  
"Ship decloking off the port bow......they're arming weapons!" Vivian said in panic.  
  
"Full power to shields, hail them!"  
  
"No response, they're firing!"  
  
CRASH! The entire ship shuddered at the impact the weapons fire  
  
Austin blacked out for a second, but quickly came to, "REPORT!"  
  
No one answered, and for a moment, Austin was afraid he'd lost the whole bridge crew...again!  
  
"Vivian, damage report!" She didn't answer "Vivian!" Vivian turned and looked straight at Austin, the fear palpable on her face, "Sir, I......I........I can't do it......."  
  
CRASH!! Panic ensued on the bridge, as junior officers fled their posts...  
  
Austin began to panic, 'I'm losing control of the ship, and we're under attack, I've got to get to take control!" Looking directly at his security officer, "Give me a damage report, now!" speaking in a calm, controlled voice.  
  
"Shield's down to......"  
  
CRASH! Consoles exploded and bulkheads went flying  
  
"Shields down to 20%, hull breaches on deck 5-10, emergency forcefields holding...barely. We've got stress fractures throughout the hull, warp engines offline, we're venting plasma out of the starboard nacelle, but we've got weapons!"  
  
"Fire phasers, give me a full spread of photon torpedoes!"  
  
"Firing! I'm reading no damage. Austin, they're shields practically reflected the phaser fire off it!"  
  
"What the hell? Fire a full spread of quantum torpedoes, give me the highest yield you can muster!"  
  
"Firing! Direct hit!" John looked at his console it disbelief, "This......this just isn't possible! I'm reading a 1% drop in shielding, that was 10 quantum torpedoes, and it's only a 1% drop......"  
  
BOOM! This ship literally rocked on its side, Austin landed hard on his chest; feeling a writing pain shoot up his body, 'must have broken a few bones' he thought to himself. Ignoring the pain, he staggered to his chair...... "Report!"  
  
"Shields down, I've activated transport inhibitors throughout the ship, but one shot from that ship and we're done for......"  
  
"Sir, they're coming about, and.....and they're just sitting there. They've targeted the bridge! They're hailing us, audio only."  
  
"Open a channel."  
  
"We are the Vissian cruiser Deathhead......you will surrender yourself to us. Do not attempt to negotiate for your release. You will unconditionally surrender your vessel, whereby you will all be taken to the penal colony on Rotas for......processing."  
  
"Vissian cruiser, I am Liet......Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix," Austin mentally scolded himself for that mistake, "You have attacked this vessel without provocation! Our vessel was stranded here because of some sort of anomaly, we are merely looking for a way home."  
  
"LIES! I will not tolerate this behavior, Captain," stated the Vissian commander, making the word Captain sound as an insult, "You will surrender, or be destroyed. You are no match for us!"  
  
"Mute On. John, load transphasic torpedoes, and lock onto that vessel."  
  
"Austin, we only have 2. I didn't think we'd need them so soon!"  
  
"That'll be fine!"  
  
Ben looked at him, fear apparent in his eyes, "You must be crazy. They get a single shot off and we're all dead!"  
  
"It's better dead than where those people would take us. You have your orders John........"  
  
"Aye"  
  
"Mute off. Vissian commander, you have attacked a Federation vessel for no reason. We will not surrender. Obviously, you seem to think that you are better than us, so, I have one thing to say to you, screw you! Close channel. Fire!"  
  
"Aye sir, torpedoes away! Direct hit! They've sustained heavy damage; they're warping out of the system. Sir, I shot two transphasic torpedoes at them, and they were still able to warp out! From what I can tell, they took heavy damage, but for a single vessel being able to take two transphasic torpedoes and still warp.......that's.......that's incredible."  
  
"I'm not sure incredible is the word I'd use......." commented Ben.  
  
"John, I need you to get working on those transphasics as soon as possible. Hopefully we won't run into them again, but you never know."  
  
"No problem, I'll get working on it immediately."  
  
Austin nodded in approval, then tapped his communicator, "Bridge to engineering, how long till we can be underway, I have a feeling they'll be sending something more powerful next time..."  
  
"Sullivan here, Austin. It's going to take a while, for god's sake, I just finishing repairing the damn ship and you've already torn her apart again!" Signing audibly he said, "I'll see what I can do."  
  
"I know you will Chris, Peters out. Bridge to Sickbay."  
  
"Flowers here."  
  
"What's it like down there?"  
  
"No casualties, but we've got a bunch of people in critical condition, a lot from deck 8. Everything else in minor stuff, I'm doing everything I can for them."  
  
"I know you are Liz, Peters out."  
  
'We got lucky this time,' Austin thought to himself, 'I've got to address the problem of my senior officers freezing during a battle. We've been here a total of 9 days, and we're already taking damage. We'll just have to make do.'  
  
With that, Austin Peters, the youngest person ever to command a starship, and facing a task larger than life, stalked off to his ready room  
  
'I must get this crew home!!' 


	3. Contact

Captain's Log – Stardate 0015.22  
  
The ship is ongoing repairs. The work is moving along at a rapid pace, due to Lt. Commander Sullivan's exceptional work. His aptitude for the position of Chief Engineer is constantly shown in how he deals with his subordinates and at the rapidity that the systems are being repaired at. We have not encountered any Vissian vessels. We are continuing to explore the nearby systems, in order to find any means to return us home. Lieutenant Cal is modifying existing torpedoes to further increase our supplies of transphasics. However, I hope to use these as a last resort........  
  
Ensign Vivian Talsy nervously shifted before the Captain's ready room. She had thus far not had the inevitable conversation with the Austin regarding her performance during the battle. It was a meeting she was not looking forward to; taking a deep breath, she pushed the panel notifying Austin of her presence.  
  
"Enter," resounded a voice.  
  
She meekly entered the ready room; looking around, she noticed Austin had placed small trinkets throughout his ready room. He was quickly modifying the room to his tastes, placing Captain Bates's personal belongings in storage.  
  
"Aust.....Captain" she greeted. She still could not refer to Austin as Captain Peters. A little over a week and a half ago, she was playing poker with him, and now he was the commanding officer. Despite her difficulty, she knew the crew was slowly adapting to the young captain, establishing an equilibrium with him.  
  
"Vivian, please sit down," said Austin, as he motioned to the couch. He watched her, and could tell from her body movements she was extremely tense. He knew he had to lighten the mood and the environment if he was going to get her to relax; he could not have his senior officers feeling uncomfortable around him. Noticing that her attention had been drawn to the model, he began, "Beautiful ship isn't it?"  
  
"Yes sir, though, I don't recognize the class."  
  
"That's because it hasn't been created yet," he chuckled, "Meet the U.S.S. Excalibur. It's basically been my hobby since I arrived aboard. Call it my ideal, perfect ship. I designed her to have top class luxuries, all the while maintaining a high warp profile, and be well armed, all the while being aesthetically pleasing. I based her after the Sovereign-class, mixed in with a bit of the Prometheus and several other classes. Its still a work in progress, but it makes this room feel more like home. I had hoped to submit the designs to Starfleet once I had finished, but looks like that project will have to be put on hold for now."  
  
"Yes sir, but hopefully not for long. But I doubt you asked me here to discuss ship designs, sir" replied Vivian.  
  
Austin smiled, "Always on top of things, eh, Vivian? I'm not one to beat around the bush, and I'm sure you know why I called you here."  
  
"I think I have an idea."  
  
"Ok, let's get straight to the point. I need to know why you froze during the attack."  
  
"Sir, that was my first live firefight sir. I.....I.....I was so terrified. We are so far from home, and I.....I...." Vivian was on the verge of breaking down.  
  
"Vivian, you're going to have to learn to face you fears. We're far from home, and it's going to take a while to get home. I can't have my senior officers freezing in the middle of a battle. You graduated pretty much at the top of your class. Your going to learn to have to trust yourself. All that discipline you learnt with all that martial arts you do, just apply here. I know I can count on you."  
  
"Yes....Yes sir. I swear it won't happen again."  
  
"Excellent. Then I won't keep you from your duties Lieutenant."  
  
"Yes sir," she replied. As she exited the ready room, she realized that she did not need to feel uncomfortable around Austin. He was still the same old kid, except now she could look to him for guidance and leadership. He may not be experienced, but she knew he would make an excellent commander, and she would never need to question his command ability. Lost in thought, she made her way to her ready room, and got some much needed rest.  
  
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First Officer's Personal Log- Stardate 0020.09  
  
The crew is slowly becoming accustomed to Captain Peter's command style. His informal, friendly basis, is winning him the crew's loyalty, and his cool nature under fire has gained him the respect needed to command. The Captain and I have had a discussion regarding my questioning his orders in public, and he has made it apparent that he will not tolerate it again. I let my fear get the best of me, and will not do so again. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan is making due process with repairs and we should be fully operational within the next few hours. Lieutenant Cal and I have been discussing multiple tactics in case we run into any more hostile species along with ways to modify shielding and phasers. We hope any hostile encounters will be short and few, but until we find the means to home, we must remain vigilant to any threats....  
  
Ben Waters strolled through the ship. He was amazed how quickly the crew had bonded. There had been some minor scuffles and arguments, but as a whole, the crew was bonding, adjusting to the ever-changing environment. They had not encountered any species since the encounter with the Vissians, nor had they found any type of spatial or temporal apertures or anomalies to return them home. The most they had been able to determine, was that the gravimetric eddy that sent them here appeared at random, and would reappear somewhere in the surrounding region of space; however, that included over 10,000 light years, an area far to vast to cover in a single ship. Crewmembers had been working round the clock to determine ways to discover where the eddy would reappear, but emphasis had been placed on getting systems repaired for a possible repeat of the Vissian encounter. Ben was shaken out of thoughts by a loud claxon.  
  
"Red Alert, all senior officers report to the Bridge!"  
  
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Captain Peters hurried out of his ready room. "Report!"  
  
"Sir, we're receiving a distress call, audio only. It's less than a light year away. I don't know how sensors didn't pick them up earlier," replied Vivian.  
  
"On speakers"  
  
"Argsho...comrf....any Parados vessel. Und.........Vissian..."  
  
"What's the status of the engines?" asked Austin.  
  
"I can give you Warp 8, maybe 8.5," replied Chris.  
  
"Set a course, give me everything you have."  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
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"ETA?" asked Austin.  
  
"We'll be there in less than 5 minutes, sir," replied Andy McKinley.  
  
"Sir, I'm still not reading any vessels. If there are any, our sensors still aren't picking them up."  
  
Ben looked up from his console, "So basically we're going in blind. John, how many transphasics do we have?"  
  
"We've got 6, two more can be ready within the hour."  
  
"Go to battle stations," ordered Austin. He was not at all comfortable going in blind, but they had little choice. This was the second time they were answering a distress call. They had to help this ship, if it was indeed being attacked by the Vissians. If they could save, they might be able to determine the current situation. They had failed the first time when they tried to save the freighter; he would not allow it to happen again.  
  
"Captain, we are entering the system. We are detecting three vessels. One is a Vissian ship, unknown type. It's over 3 times larger than the one we encountered; it's heavily armed. The other two ships are of an unknown design, but they're definitely out-classed."  
  
"Sir, the Vissian cruiser is turning about, they're heading toward us," said John.  
  
"Open a channel," replied Austin.  
  
"They're responding..."  
  
"We are the Vissian Battle cruiser Vortox. You will surrender, and prepare to be boarded. You will pay for your crimes against the Deathhead!"  
  
"This Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix. The Deathhead attacked us with provocation. We are not here to fight, we are..."  
  
"Sir, they're firing!"  
  
"Evasive maneuvers! Target they're weapons systems, fire phasers and photon torpedoes!"  
  
The Phoenix and the Vissian battleship began their deadly dogfight; both firing bright beams of light. From a distance, it would almost look like a dance, except this was one dance with fatal consequences.  
  
"Captain, our weapons are not doing any damage. The other two vessels are approaching; they're targeting the Vortox. We're not doing any damage to them sir. Should I load transphasics?"  
  
"Bring us about. Commence attack pattern Alpha-two. Fire a spread of Transphasics!"  
  
The Phoenix broke off, and came about. Firing a deadly salvo of yellow- green spheres of light, it swooped over the Vortox, leaving a trail of damage in its wake."  
  
"Sir, the Vissian ship is breaking off, they're retreating!"  
  
"Damage report!"  
  
"Sir, main systems are on line. They're some minor buckling throughout the secondary hull; no major casualties have been reported; looks like Andy was able to keep most of they're heavy weapons from hitting us," replied Ben.  
  
"Nice work, Andy," commended Austin, "Now, open a channel to the other two ships."  
  
"Channel open."  
  
"This is Captain Austin Peters of the Federation Starship Phoenix."  
  
"This is Parados vessel Dregon. We thank you for you assistance. We have not encountered your species before."  
  
"That is because we are not from this region of space. Perhaps you would like to come aboard, we can discuss this face to face."  
  
"While I do not mean to be rude, Captain, we are in the middle of a war, I cannot just transport over to an unknown vessel. Perhaps you would be generous enough to come aboard our vessel?"  
  
"That can be arranged."  
  
"Excellent, I will expect you here within the hour. Dregon out."  
  
"Sir, is this such a good idea, transporting to an unknown vessel? For all we know, they could be hostile too," said Ben, a worried look on his face.  
  
"I'll be fine," replied Austin, "John, Vivian, you're with me. We go unarmed, no need to make any more enemies. Commander, you have the bridge."  
  
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Twenty-minutes later, the group of officers transported to the Parados vessel.  
  
"I am Captain Austin Peters. This here is my ops officer, Lieutenant Vivian Talsy, and my Chief of Security: Lieutenant John Cal."  
  
"I am Mithraw Dregon, of the house of Dreka. Follow me."  
  
Austin noted as they walked through the corridors, that the ship was being held together by makeshift repairs. Arriving at what appeared to be a briefing room, the away party took their seats.  
  
"Captain Dregon, perhaps you could explain to us, about this war that you mentioned about."  
  
"You amuse me, Captain. How could you not know about the war, it has lasted for over a century."  
  
"As I said before, we are not from this region. Some sort of gravimetric eddy transported us here. We are, from what we can determine, from a different time and dimension," replied Austin.  
  
"As far as we can determine, we're from 100,000 years in the past and from some sort of parallel dimension. We've been stranded here two weeks, and are just trying to find our way home," cut in Vivian.  
  
Dregon looked at them with amazement, "Cuu was correct. Incredible! I cannot explain anymore. You must leave immediately. We will escort you to the Overlord and Cuu. Only they can answer you questions."  
  
"Very well," replied Austin.  
  
Transporting back to the Phoenix, Austin mulled over his thoughts. This Cuu character, seemed to be the one to know everything. Looking over to Vivian he said, "Assemble the senior staff for a briefing in an hour."  
  
"Yes sir," she replied.  
  
Austin headed to his ready room, and pondered when he would be able to get his crew, and it was now his crew, home. His gut told him, however, things were going to get a lot worse, before they got any better. 


End file.
